Field Notes from Jess ~ Rewilding in 2021 | Week 14/52 | Spring
Mar 28, 2021
52 Sundays of REWILDING in 2021
Field Notes from Jess ~ Sunday 14/52 weekend in review: Wilderness First Responder Certification!
I have spent the last 9 days (80 hours) in Boise Idaho in an immersive WFR course through NOLS(National Outdoor Leadership School). This training is a game changer as far as confidence recreating in the backcountry. If an unexpected medical event were to happen, this course content gives you the skills to make good decisions and support minor and major medical emergencies when definitive care is potentially hours if not days away. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who enjoys spending time in the outdoors...camping, backpacking, hiking, hunting, fishing etc...
Even in an urban setting (we call this front country), there is always a potential for a natural disaster or even worse, a Zombie Apocalypse in which access to medical care is delayed or unavailable for extended periods of time. Knowing what medical/first aid supplies are critical as well as how to be a capable first responder in terms of leadership, assessment and treatments is a worthwhile education!
Our instructors were awesome and created heart elevating simulations that were very realistic. I have some gross pictures here of our fake amputations, fractured bones, gnarly head injuries and impalement. Of course we covered minor injuries and scenarios but practicing the scary stuff is good mental resilience training. I was impressed that the curriculum covered stress injuries to the brain including PTSD.
I’m so grateful to have spent this long week with 26 other eager students who were all enthusiastic to learn these invaluable skills. We definitely became a close crew over these 9 days. I hope if anything ever went sideways with me in the great outdoors, that a trained Wilderness First Responder would be nearby!
Rewilding has many facets.
